1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for resetting wind turbines. More particularly, the present invention relates to the automatic and remote resetting of wind turbines without manual operator assistance.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to improve the response time of fleet performance and diagnostic (“FPDC”) operators to wind turbine alarm conditions that require a turbine reset, a new method of applying limited remote control is necessary. The current methods require that operators use a remote terminal connection to each site's Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (“SCADA”) system to manually reset turbines. This is a slow, cumbersome process and introduces unnecessary delays due to the time required in maintaining separate remote connections to multiple sites and in dealing with several types of SCADA systems having differing user interfaces.
This invention defines a specification for a new method of remote turbine reset control by utilizing a single interface to communicate with all sites. The purpose of this control interface is to provide an external mechanism to reset wind turbines from a remote location by an operator using a single unified software application, such as a wind alarm monitor. Further, the present invention makes use of programmable logic controllers (“PLC”) which are advantageous compared to regular computers in that they are not prone to viral attacks and in that they do not require operating system updates.